Late, yet too early
by desist
Summary: This is a late birthday fic for Zoro. Sanji comes home way too late one evening, but Zoro gets a suprise that evens out his long wait for Sanji. ZoSan, kind of AU


_I know, it is too late. Screw that, here is a fic for Zoro's birthday, 11/11. Happy Birthday, beloved marimo!_

_**Late**__**, but yet too Early – A One Piece Oneshot**_

Sanji cursed and almost kicked the keypad into oblivion. The lamp which usually gave light to the combination box had died, and he stood alone in the dark trying to get the right code so that he could get into the house. On the third try, the door beeped approvingly, and he entered the staircase and started climbing upwards.

The light inside of the house was also turned off, and trying the switch several times didn't help; it was still pitch black.

Sanji lived on the top floor—well, in the attic—so he had to walk up five flights of stairs. It was an old building; it never had an elevator, and probably never would. In the beginning, when he had just moved here those five flights were a pain in the ass, but after a while he had gotten used to them and saw it as training for the legs. Tonight, though, he started to rethink that idea and was longing for an automatic elevator to do all the work for him.

Not quite lifting his leg high enough, Sanji's shoe caught the stair step, and he fell forward. Not thinking, he let out a curse as yet another loud sound was created when his body smacked into the stone stairs. He got up as quickly as he could and cursed again, this time much harsher, but so quiet that he could hardly hear them himself.

It was late, way too late. He hoped the land lady wouldn't kill him for stumbling up the stairs. She had threatened to throw him out on the street last time, and he had promised it would never happen again. That was then, now was now…He listened, but heard nothing. Lucky for him, the ruckus he had made wasn't enough to wake her up. Due to many different circumstances, he didn't want to loose his apartment at the moment.

He listened very carefully when he passed the door to the landlady's apartment, and sighed in relief. He sneaked up the last flight of stairs and put the key in the door to his room.

Carefully, carefully, Sanji turned the key around. As if it was the door to a lion's den, he tiptoed into the small hallway littered with shoes, jackets and a big motorcycle helmet. He didn't dare to turn the light on; that would just risk waking the other person up. He zigzagged around the clutter and found a place to put his dress shoes. He turned around and walked, as quiet as can be, towards his bedroom.

Halfway there, he hit his toes into something that made a very quiet noise, but a noise nevertheless. He cursed under his breath, and lifted his legs to continue when he was blinded by the light suddenly being switched on, and he froze.

"Do you have any idea how late it is, Sanji Black?", a hard voice could be heard. Sanji slowly turned his head and looked into the eyes of a man about Sanji's age, but with more muscles and green hair. Zoro stood fully dressed in the living room, hand on the switch to the lamp. He looked at Sanji with eyes as black as the darkness outside, but under those eyes, bags shaped from tiredness could be seen. He must have stayed up all night waiting for him to get home.

"Do you have any idea how long I waited...", He stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked at Sanji, and the package Sanji was trying to hide behind his back.

"Sanji..." he started, but he was interrupted.

"Fuck you. It was supposed to be a suprise. Guess idea's ruined." the blonde muttered, and tossed the small package to the green haired man, who almost forgot to catch it. Despite what Sanji had thought, it was a surprise.

"Sanji, you know you don't have to do stuff like this."

"What if I wanted to?" Sanji said, eyes turned away from Zoro. He smiled at the comment and took it as an invite to start opening it.

As if he wasn't talking to Zoro, Sanji talked under his breath, complaining.

"It was supposed to be a gift for tomorrow. Why did you have to stay up so late?"

"I was worried, idiot." Zoro never took his eyes from the wrapping, struggling with the tape. He tore it off with a small grunt, and unfolded the present. Sanji looked at him with a bit of worried eyes. He had no problems with getting gifts for females, but finding something for Zoro was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. He hoped that Zoro wouldn't be dissapointed.

Zoro widened his eyes, then closed tightly just to open again a couple of seconds later. When all the wrapping was gone, he held his favorite band's new cd, and—this was the hard part to believe—two tickets to their coming tour. He had a vague idea about how hard they were to get your hands on. When he looked closer, he found the text saying that they were right next to the stage.

"Holy fuck, Sanji." He tried to say more, but failed miserably. Sanji grinned, pleased with the reaction.

"How the hell did you get these tickets? They're in the fucking front row!"

Sanji laughed, and said something that Zoro didn't quite catch, though it sounded like "Only the best for the best".

"I got them through a friend of mine in some shady business, Ace. They're tickets for next week, so you'll have to wait a little while." Sanji smiled as he leaned back towards the wall, relieved, "I got you two tickets, so you could bring a friend. Ask Luffy if he wants to go."

Zoro stood still for a moment before placing the cd and the tickets on a table and walking up towards Sanji. The blonde man raised an eyebrow, but he didn't have any time to react as Zoro lifted him up in his arms, walking in through the door next to them.

"Silly, silly man. Of course I'm bringing you. But now, I want to sleep. I have a birthday to celebrate, and I want to start it by waking up beside you."

Sanji sighed, but nodded. It was time for bed, and Zoro's proposition sounded really tempting.

Entering the bedroom, Zoro put Sanji down again and kissed him on the top of his head. After getting undressed and crawling into the bed, Zoro put his arm arond Sanji's waist, whispering in his ear:

"Sanji, thank you. I really mean it; thank you." After an artistic pause he continued:

"Though you beat every concert and every present so easily. You, yourself is the best birthday gift. _That's _why I waited for you. I love you, you silly blonde."

Sanji snuggled, tired into Zoro's neck.

"Oh, shut up, marimo." Kissing his throat softly, he whispered with a faint voice:

"Happy birthday... I love you too, idiot marimo."

_Short but sweet, at least in my opinion. I know it's too late, but as stated, I don't care. I still want to write a little piece in honour of our marimo. Thanks to my betas, MintyTwins. No__w, go do something smart. _


End file.
